Ambersley by Amy Atwell Lords of London (Volume 1)

An heiress to a fortune disguised as a gardener’s son. An heir to a dukedom who doubts his own legitimacy. Separated by status and their own well-guarded secrets, can they take their rightful places in Regency society and find the love they deserve?

Traumatized by a blaze that killed her parents, young Johanna remembers nothing of her privileged past and remains ignorant of the dangers that surround her. She grows up among the servants, where she develops a sense of purpose that helps her survive the betrayal that unmasks her true identity. Once she is forced to take her proper place in Regency society as the highly sought heiress to the Ambersley fortune, she must defy the relatives who would make her a pawn in their struggle for power.

When Derek Vaughan inherits the dukedom, his dubious parentage makes it a sacrilege to accept. But touched by the ravaged estate and its destitute staff, he braves a society that once shunned him while he rebuilds Ambersley and guards it from his stepmother's bankrupting clutches. He intends to grant the title to his half-brother when the boy comes of age, but Derek's plans go awry from the moment the gardener's apprentice—once his trusted young friend—is revealed to be not only an heiress of beauty and spirit, but the one woman who may finally capture his heart.

2008 RWA Golden Heart Award finalist Amy Atwell has enjoyed many careers that enriched her life-horse trainer, Shakespearean actress, children's theater director, rock singer, designer of custom closets and wine cellars, caretaker of an island ghost town-but writing fiction has proven to be the greatest adventure of all. A believer in pursuing dreams, she wrote for ten years and earned many awards for her unpublished manuscripts before selling her first book. She now writes full-time and runs an active online community for goal-oriented writers. When not traveling, Amy lives on a barrier island in northeast Florida with her husband and two highly imaginative Russian Blue cats.Lying Eyesis her first novel featuring Cosmo Fortune. Visit her online at http://www.amyatwell.com.

Unrated Critic Reviews for Ambersley

Kirkus Reviews

Atwell (Lying Eyes, 2010) has an intriguing premise, and her craftsmanship shows in solid descriptions, smooth dialogue and observations, as in: “No wonder men thought ladies were such trivial creatures—they had nothing but trivialities to entertain them.” Historical accuracy adds greatly to the ...